


Ink is Trying

by AnxiousPerson



Series: Not Abandoned Just moved into An Actual Multi chaper fic!! [3]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, One-Sided Attraction, Questionable Motives, unsure feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:42:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28496268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnxiousPerson/pseuds/AnxiousPerson
Summary: Ink is doing his best. Cut him some slack.
Relationships: Error/Ink, Hints of Dream/ Ink, Ink/Error, Sans/Sans (Undertale)
Series: Not Abandoned Just moved into An Actual Multi chaper fic!! [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2148642
Comments: 6
Kudos: 31





	Ink is Trying

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to post a special Christmas event, but I was just so exhausted from work that I didn't have time to write a special chapter for that day. Sad noises. So I decided to power through on my days off to write something for New Years Day. (It's eleven p.m. where I live but I swear it's still New Year's Day for me) It feels so rushed but I wanted to give out a bit more groundwork between the character's relationship with each other and I hope I did convey that... I even tried to talk more about the backgrounds like where characters are at cause that is my biggest weak point in writing so I'm sorry if my writing doesn't help you imagine where they're at. I tried my best... I might come back to this one day, who knows. (IMPORTANT EDIT) First part of the series is the credit to all the creators of their AUs.

Gyftmas was coming soon and Ink wanted to do something special. He knew Error loved Outertale and possibly Candytale with how much of a sweet tooth he had, so those were the places he decided to research for his next gift project. He decided on going to Outertale first and asking the Sans of that universe for help. He was currently looking for the skeleton as he glided through the AU. The lack of gravity in this AU helped him use less energy and he didn’t have to rely on his paints too much to use his powers.

The buildings were all floating in their own space rocks but there were several paths made of little stars that connected each one to another. Of course, anyone could stay off the path and still be able to go anywhere, but the star paths held some magical pull that would gently pull people towards the way they were headed. He didn’t use those paths, only because he tried to stay at a high altitude to watch the people travel around to see if he could spot his friend. The people would sometimes look strangely at him, but most shrugged it off because they were used to the strange antics of the guardian. He kept up his people gazing for a few more minutes before giving up. He would have tried Grillby’s from the start, but it was currently under renovations due to some poorly planned pranks. For the time being, he and his friend were also currently banned from that pub until Grillby cooled off some heat.

Since Stardin, the Snowdin version of this AU but in space, was a wasted trip, he tried Starfall, Waterfall version, next. Starfall was made of several asteroids forming a belt around a single planet that was filled with several different types of bodies of water, but right in the center of the planet an aurora shined straight down into its biggest waterfall and made it look like it was dripping with stars as well. At the bottom of the waterfall were multiple echo flowers that all echoed people’s awes and joy at seeing the sight of the glowing water that occasionally changed colors due to the light. He spotted the local Sans lazing in a patch of grass surrounded by the echo flowers.

“Space! Hey hey! Space!!” Ink called out when he sat next to his target and thankfully, he wasn’t with his brother today. He grabbed his friend’s shoulder with a bit too much force and shook him. “Are you ignoring me? I called you several times already. That’s rude you know.”

The Sans of this tale just moved out of Ink’s grip and rubbed his shoulder while still lazing on the ground. “Space…? Ink did you seriously forget my name again. My name is Outer.” Despite what Outer said, he didn’t mind at all. He was too used to the scatter brain that Ink was. He figured Ink would ~~purposely~~ forget his name again anyways. “It’s also rude to grab people roughly Ink. Don’t make me tell Blue you need lessons on manners again.”

“No, I don’t have the time for that. I need help.”

Outer tensed. “You need help? What exactly do you need my help for?” He knew whenever Ink asked for assistance it was never for anything good. “Look I’m not gonna help you prank anyone ever again. Killer’s retaliation was not any fun cleaning up and I’m not explaining to Paps those sick jokes Killer told him. Plus, you got me banned-”

“Temporarily!”

“-from Grillby’s.” continued Outer as if he hadn’t been interrupted. “I’ll call Dream up if I have to.”

Ink groaned, “I haven’t even asked my favor yet! Dream isn’t my mom you know.”

Outer tried to appear serious for a moment. “Oh? Is he your daddy then?”

Ink side-eyed his normally tame friend, “Oh? Did Comic teach you that word?”

“Ink!” Outer spluttered as he sat up in a rush. His face was flushed blue with little specks of white stars mixed in. “How many times do I have to tell you that-”

“ _The two of us aren’t dating because we can’t get over our shyness and denial._ ” Ink spoke in a high-pitched voice. “ _Comic totally doesn’t like me or anything, but I wanna hold his hand so bad!_ ” He started making loud kissing sounds and hugging himself as if he was holding a person. “ _And maaaybe give him a lil kiss here and there._ ”

Outer’s face was wholly blue with too many white stars freckled in as he frantically sat up and tried to get Ink to stop his pantomimes. “Quit it! It’s not like that and you know it.”

Ink stopped briefly to hold his chin as if he was deep in thought. “Ah, that’s right. You did say you two wanted to try things slow. How’s that working out so far, Star?”

“Don’t call me Star because my freckles are showing. How many times do I have to tell you my name is Outer!” He huffed in mock annoyance. “You’re doing this on purpose I know it.”

“ _You’re doing this on purpose._ ” Ink spoke again in his high-pitched voice.

Outer threw his hands up in surrender as he flopped back down to the ground. “Alright, alright. I give up. What did you want Ink?”

Ink smiled, “So you’ll help me?”

“You still haven’t told me what you wanted help with yet. So, my answer is still heavily leaning towards a no.”

Ink pouted as he too flopped to the ground and moved his arms like a kid throwing a tantrum, “I thought we were friends. You’re supposed to trust me whole-heartedly and say yes. Less questions and more agreeing.”

Outer turned to the older skeleton acting as a child. “Okay, okay. I guess I’ll agree if and only if you tell me what you need.”

“What should I give Error! Gyftmas is coming soon and I want to give him something special, but I can’t think of what would be special. Help me brainstorm.”

“Why are you asking?”

Ink stared at Outer like he was dumb. “Error and you are friends, so don’t you know what he likes the most?”

Outer grinned and rubbed his head sheepishly. “Oh, did Error tell you that? I mean we have been hanging out for a long time. I was hoping the feeling was mutual.” He noticed Ink’s empty sockets and lack of grin, which he honestly had no idea what was going through Ink’s head. A very bad situation to be in. He became nervous and shielded his eyes from Ink’s empty yet intensive gaze. “W-well! I’m sure Error probably sees you as a friend too! You know how he is. The ultimate tsundere of Sans and all that. I think I have some ideas!”

Ink blinked and regained the colors to his eyes, a violet circle and yellow star. “That’s good to hear. Tell me them.”

“Have you tried drawing for him?” At Ink’s blank stare, Outer continued. “You seriously never drawn him anything? Do you even show your drawings to Error?”

“No, why would I? He’ll obviously destroy it. And” Ink looked up at the glowing waterfall, the color was a shiny blue that was slowly morphing into an enchanting green. His eyes reflected the colors. “I don’t want to hear his criticism…”

Outer sat up and looked at the waterfall then at Ink. He frowned and knew that those colors weren’t good in Ink’s eyes. “Draw him this area.”

The colors left Ink’s eyes as they changed into an orange exclamation point and a lime question mark. He sat up as well. “Huh? Weren’t you listening? He won’t-”

“Error likes your drawings. He told me how he saw you drawing the other day and commented on how well you captured the landscape you drew. If I remember right, he said it was that drawing of Undertale’s Waterfall. So, I think he would like it even more if you drew this waterfall.”

Surprisingly, green was the only color that stayed in Ink’s eyes for a good while as he blinked rapidly, too fast for Outer to keep track of what shapes his eyes took, before settling on a yellow and lime star in each eye. “Really? He told you that??” His face flushed in a beautiful array of the rainbow with what seemed to be added colorful speckles thrown in. “I’m not so sure how I feel about that. Thanks for telling me.” He gazed at the waterfall; it was now reflecting a pink glow.

“So… Are you going to draw it?”

Ink grinned and grabbed his Broomie. “Draw it? I’m going to paint it! I’m gonna make it big enough to cover a whole wall!”

Outer laughed. “As much as I loved to see that too, you might want to make it smaller. At least big enough for him to carry without too much trouble. Besides I doubt he would want a whole wall like that unless you try to invite yourself into his home. Wasn’t it in the Anti-Void?”

This time Ink didn’t bother with a response, instead he began running around the waterfall to get the best view to paint. He didn’t mean to ignore Outer and Outer knew that. With Ink now fully occupied, Outer laid back down to continue his star gazing to the relaxing sound of the waterfall.

A red wrapped box was suddenly thrown in Error’s direction. For some reason that he would never know, he held his hands out to catch the box and prevent it from getting damaged. The strange box was flat and came from a black paint portal, that was slowly closing, in the wall of Blue’s home. Error was relaxing in a comfy armchair in Blue’s living room with a nice lit fireplace nearby to keep him warm, but now he was standing in front of the fireplace holding the strange box. Instead of focusing on the now closed portal like he normally would, the box held his attention since it had a tag with Error’s name on it. Again, without thinking, he tore the wrapping off.

“Error! You shouldn’t open things without asking the sender for permission first!” Blue had seen the whole scene and was going to stay quiet until something else happened. He stood in the doorway with a tray holding two mugs filled with hot chocolate and some marshmallows on the side. “Besides I’m sure he would love to see your reaction to his gift as well!”

Error scoffed as he continued to open the box. “Well whoever sent it, shouldn’t have thrown it at me.”

Another paint portal opened but this time in the ceiling and on top of the chair that Error was sitting on. Ink fell through the portal and landed on the chair. He looked franticly around before spotting the torn box in Error’s hand. He smiled as gold stars formed in his eyes. “You found it!” He noticed who was holding it and his eyes changed into a green ‘x’ and an orange exclamation point. “ _You_ found it?!” His voice totally didn’t squeak at first.

Ink tried to take the box out of Error’s hand, but Error side-stepped him. Ink knew better than to try to touch Error even if he did it accidentally, so he stood frozen in front of Error and awkwardly had his arms out with his hands making grabby motions. Error glared at him as he held the box closer to himself. Blue knew he had to do something before the two idiots broke something in his home. He set the tray next to the table by Error’s chair. He wanted his hands free in case he had to make a quick grab of someone ~~specifically Ink.~~

“Ink… Was that gift for me?” prompted blue.

“No.” Ink answered too hastily and belatedly realized he could lie. “I mean yes? I think it was. I mean it is. It is for you.” His eyes showcased a cyan outlined circle and a green circle. While Error may not know exactly what the colors meant, Blue knew what they meant, and he wasn’t going to let this go.

“Really now?” Blue debated on letting Error open the gift to see it but thought better of it. He sighed. Being the adult to two older skeletons than him was always such a pain ~~and a bore.~~ “Error give him back his box. I think he may have tripped while trying to come in.”

Ink nodded in agreement as he blabbed, “Yeah, I was trying to come in normally for once, but I tripped over Broomie because I accidentally dropped her in front of me. I was holding too many things at once and there was no way I was going to leave Broomie behind, so I just dropped everything else! It wasn’t her fault that she made me fall so I had to apologize to her. But then I realized that I threw Error’s gift through the portal, so I made sure to securely put her on my back before coming here. I was so worried that I broke the present. I know Gyftmas already passed and no I didn’t forget I was having trouble on making the perfect gift. Oh! I also got you a gift too Blue and several others, but I forgot yours at home because I also dropped it when I tripped. Don’t worry it won’t have any damages! I wasn’t expecting Error to be here. I just planned on dropping off all the gifts to your home, except for Dream’s, but Error is here and now I’m a bit lost on what to do. Cause now I really want to stay but he has his gift and I kind of want to see his reaction on it. I plan to give Dream his gift after this too but Error…! Anyways let me have the gift back.” Ink still had his arms out in their weird movements that never once stopped as he talked, they only got stranger.

Blue and Error just glanced at each other, one unsure on how to proceed while the latter made up his mind. A loud tear sounded throughout the room as Error gave up on being gentle with the box. Ink spluttered uselessly as Error finally got to hold what was in the box. It was a medium sized canvas with a wondrous painting of Starfall’s biggest waterfall. As he held up the painting, Blue stood beside him to inspect it. The painting was beautiful, and anyone could tell a lot of time was poured into this canvas.

“It’s perfect. I like it.” Error spoke without thinking.

“You really mean that?!” Ink exclaimed.

Error turned away from Ink ~~to hide his flushed face~~ and growled, “No, you idiot. It was a joke. This painting is obviously-”

Ink didn’t hear Error as he ran up to Blue and grabbed his hands. He shook them excitedly. “Thanks for having Error over today! I’m so glad I came. Ahhh, I wanna stay so bad but I promised Dream I would go over so I have to leave.” Ink released Blue’s hand and waved excitedly. “Bye guys! Merry belatedly Gyftmas! I hope we can spend the next one together!” Ink used Broomie to warp out of Blue’s home and back into his.

Blue chuckled, “Weren’t you just complaining about not seeing Ink for so long despite Gyftmas already passed?”

As usual, Error denied furiously while having a slight yellow blush covering his cheeks.

Ink hurried to his room as ink spilled out of his mouth. He didn’t even bother wiping his mouth as he grabbed Dream’s gift and warped straight to Dream’s home. He stood on top of Dream’s couch in his living room. He placed the gift next to him as he yelled excitedly, “Dream! Dream!”

Dream hurried to the sound of Ink’s yell. He was in his soft white pajamas as he panickily held his bow in his arms. “What? What happened? Where do we need to go?”

Ink jumped Dream and hugged his friend, Dream wasn’t expecting this, so he lost his balance and they both fell to the ground. Ink was laughing merrily, and Dream was just absolutely baffled, but that didn’t stop him from returning the hug. As Ink’s laugh continued, Dream couldn’t help but smile too.

“What’s got you in such a good mood today, Ink?”

“Error said my gift was perfect!”

Dream frowned and his grip on Ink tightened a bit. ~~He felt bitter. He shouldn’t feel like this.~~

Ink’s laughter stopped but he still couldn’t get rid of his smile as he pondered on what was wrong with his friend. He lifted himself off Dream, but he kept Dream pinned under him to look at his face. “Dream?”

“Error gets his gift before me?” Dream tried to ~~fake~~ smile as he asked as if he was telling a joke.

Ink frowned and got off Dream. He sat next to Dream with his back turned to him. “You know, I hate it when you do that.”

Dream frowned again and sat up next to him. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to ruin your…. Good vibes…?” He tried to make a joke, but he wasn’t too in touch with memes. “I thought it would help you relax.”

“If you’re going to act boring again, I’m going to leave.”

Dream sighed and rubbed Ink’s back. “Alright, alright. I won’t. I did say I won’t be fake anymore. I’m just a bit annoyed… After all, you always gave Blue and me our gifts first... And now…” ~~Lately, it feels like Error matters more to you than the two of us.~~ “You missed the Gyftmas party for the first time and didn’t respond to anyone’s calls or texts for a long time.”

Ink leaned into the touch and spoke, “To tell the truth, I only went to Blue’s to drop off Error’s and his gift, because I knew Error would be less suspicious of it if it’s from Blue. Error just happened to be there. I uh forgot to grab Blue’s gift though because I tripped and yeah Error did distract me. I did promise I would make up missing Gyftmas by hanging out with you today, so I figured you knew I was coming today.”

“Yeah, you did promise that through text.”

Ink turned to Dream and grinned. “Besides! You were the only one I actually texted Merry Gyftmas too. I didn’t even text Blue that!”

 ~~That shouldn’t have made Dream so happy.~~ Dream giggled as he lightly slapped Ink’s shoulder. “Ink that’s bad! You should have texted everyone that at least! You could have texted that in our group chat.”

“Too much effort.” Ink noticed the pajamas. “Oh, did I wake you up? Isn’t it almost afternoon though?”

Dream flushed while looking away guilty. “No… I was given a vacation for all the work I do… and decided not to get dressed for once…”

“So, you decided to be lazy for once?!” Ink grabbed Dream’s hands and shook them vigorously. “We should celebrate this! You’re never this underdressed.”

Words spilled out of Dream’s mouth to defend himself, “I do underdress a lot! And I’m not being lazy! I thought I could relax in whatever I wanted. Besides, there’s nothing wrong with wearing pajamas in my own home. Pajamas are a perfect choice of clothes in one’s own home! T-they’re not even that bad or anything like that either! This isn’t the first time you’ve seen me like this you know!” Ink was just staring ~~judgingly~~? at him, so he slapped his hands over Ink’s eyes. “Stop staring!”

Ink laughed as he pushed Dream’s hands off his face, “I gueesss I will.” A sudden thought occurred to him. “Oh yeah, Happy New Year’s Day, Dream!”

Warmth filled causing Dream to smile again, “Happy New Year to you too Ink.”

That’s right. Today was New Year’s Day. The reason Dream got the day off, when he should be helping set up or host parties to welcome the new year with those who were aware of the multiverse, was because Ink had promised he would hang out with him all day. Just the two of them. ~~Like how it always used to be before they were fully acknowledged for their roles. Dream really missed those times.~~

Something clicked in Ink’s mind once he saw that smile and he lifted his scarf to write down his thoughts. He hastily scribbled, _“Dream is now happy again that I spent New Year’s Day with him. Possibly lonely?”_

“You still write on your scarf? I thought your memory was better?” asked Dream as he tried to see what Ink was writing, but he couldn’t see the tiny handwriting.

Ink continued to write on it and erase some other previous notes as he spoke, “Yes, because I never know when the creators will take my memory away again.”

Dream’s eyes widen and he frowned. “They can do that?”

Ink nodded. “Yeah, besides I still do forget things too. My memory just isn’t that bad anymore. I’m almost like a normal person now except for” He held his hands in front of his chest; where his soul should reside. “my lack of a soul.”

A sullen Ink was something Dream hated seeing. He grabbed Ink’s hands and held them gently as he tried to reassure his precious friend. “You’re not almost normal. You are normal. There’s nothing wrong with you and even if anyone says differently… It wouldn’t matter to me and it definitely shouldn’t matter to you too! Despite everything, you’re still you, Ink, my best friend.” ~~Was he really just that though?~~

Ink’s bewildered stare morphed into a yellow circle and yellow flower as he smiled. He moved his hand over Dream’s chest and that wasn’t something that Dream expected Ink to ever do. Dream stayed silent as Ink softly rested his hands where Dream’s soul thumped in his chest.

“Ink…?”

Ink pulled his hands away. He seemed shock at what he did as he stared at his hands; a lime outlined circle and an orange question mark. “Huh? I didn’t even mean to do that. Why did I…?” A blink changed his eyes to a lime exclamation point and star as he looked back to Dream and his hands. “Just now, I felt…”

Ring!

Dream flinched at the sound of Ink’s phone ringing while Ink continued to stare intensely at his hands for a few more moments. The two looked at each other before Dream sighed and motioned for him to answer it when he saw that Ink wasn’t going to. As much as both wanted to know what just happened, Dream rather not be rude to whoever needs Ink enough to call. Ink begrudgingly answered the phone only to receive a loud yell.

“I said don’t call him!!!” The yell was Error.

“Stop yelling in my ear!” Blue was talking to Error.

That’s all Ink got to hear before Blue and Error began to bicker. They were too quiet for the phone to catch what they were saying because they talked either too far away from the phone or were just speaking lowly. Ink couldn’t tell. The two sounded like they were struggling with something as they whispered back and forth is all he gathered. He was tempted to hang up the phone, but Error was on the other line too… ~~Could this count as the first phone call between Ink and Error?~~

“Happy New Year Ink! You forgot to tell that to Error and me! How rude of you!” scolded Blue after settling whatever spat the two had on their end.

“Oh! You’re right. Put me on speaker.” Ink waited to be told he was on speaker before continuing to speak. “Happy New Year! Hope we get to spend another year together Error. Lets-”

Click! Ink didn’t get to finish his sentence. He assumed Error had hung up the phone. Only if Error had said ‘Happy New Year back, it would have made this new year start fantastically. He glanced at Dream sitting next to him, who was still smiling despite the slight awkward moment they had. He knew he would just have to try harder to hear those words one day from Error’s lips. For now, at least he had his best friend.

“Oh, I brought you a gift. It’s a cooking book.” Ink stood up to grab said box and handed it to Dream. “Can you make me some cookies from there? I think the ones I want were on page fourteen or something.”

Dream was in the middle of unwrapping said present when Ink ruined the surprise before he even got to it. He huffed and continued to open it. He hoped Ink was just joking. The gift was a cooking book, which made Dream ~~rightfully~~ annoyed as he tried to beat Ink with the lousy gift.

**Author's Note:**

> In case you're wondering if Dream got Ink a present. The answer is no. The reason for this is because when they did give each other gifts, it became a competition on who could give the worse / best gift. At first it was fun, but as time went on and Dream developed certain feelings, he became too self-conscious on the gifts he gave to Ink. So he made a half-truth and half-lie that giving gifts out was too stressful for him because everyone seemed to expect his gifts to be either the best or positivity influencing. Ink didn't question it much because he knew how much people did stress him out, but that doesn't stop him giving gifts to Dream. Dream completely regrets saying he won't give gifts to anyone anymore (he at least wants to be able to give to his close friends, especially Ink), and he doesn't know how to take those words back.
> 
> I'm going to allow guest to leave reviews now. I think I'm kinda ready to hear from anonymous readers if they decide to leave a review. Sorry I'm just a nervous individual. Thanks for reading and let me know what you think of the story so far!


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